The Education People Newsletter - Autumn 2022

The Education People Show 2022

We are delighted that our free-to-attend annual show, The Education People Show will be returning on Thursday 10 November and we are excited to announce that Countdown’s very own Susie Dent will be with us! The celebrity lexicographer will share all sorts of oddities from the English language, filling delegates with knowledge and inspiration to find out more to share with pupils, friends and family. Alongside Susie’s keynote session she will join Sir Linkalot to host a workshop focussing on the importance of exploring difficult words from early years right through to adulthood.

Kent Police will also be joining our in-house expert Rebecca Avery, delivering a workshop on cybercrime from both a policing and safeguarding perspective.

Opening the show, Super-Headteacher and all round good guy, Chris Dyson will talk changing culture, school transformation and success stories. Our lunchtime keynote Susie Dent will be sandwiched between Chris and an afternoon wellbeing session hosted by our very own Kelly Hannaghan including a thought-provoking talk by Christopher Barrat Director of Greystone Partnership.

Alongside these keynotes, our full and exciting programme of workshops will run throughout the day:

• Ofsted: New Developments

• Identifying Vulnerable Learners and Responding to Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA)

• Sir Linkalot: Levelling the Playing Field for People Diagnosed with Dyslexia

• Governance in the Ever-Changing World

• Cybercrime: A Safeguarding and Policing Perspective

• Are We Back to Normal? Addressing Gaps in Pupil’s Maths

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: A Leadership Perspective

Make sure you pre-book your workshops early to avoid disappointment!

Alongside motivational keynotes and inspiring workshops the floor exhibition will be full of education suppliers to support your establishment. There will also be plenty of opportunities for networking.

A free breakfast will be provided in the keynote theatre, you can enjoy unlimited refreshments throughout the day, and a free hot or cold lunch will also be available with our compliments. There is step-free access available to all areas of the event, and disabled parking spaces are available upon request.

Join us on Thursday 10 November 2022 at The Kent Event Centre, Detling, Kent.

Sir Linkalot

- The Award-winning App for Spelling Tricky Words

Sir Linkalot is a fun and innovative award-winning app (Best Educational App - BETT2020, Europe’s leading EdTech expo) that is transforming how to spell tricky words all the way from two to onomatopoeia. Many dyslexia associations endorse the product as rote learning simply doesn’t work for the children they work with. Students, whose first language is not English, have said that taking words off the page and animating them in this way is breaking down barriers, as English is far from a phonetic language.

These clips show the impact the Sir Linkalot app is making:

Sir Linkalot: Case Study

See Why Susie Joined Sir Linkalot on His Quest:

Why Susie has joined Sir Linkalot on his quest of making ‘’I can’t spell’’ a thing of the past

Susie will join Sir Linkalot at The Education People Show on 10 November to host a workshop focussing on the importance of exploring difficult words from early years right through to adulthood. Book your place on the workshop now to avoid disappointment!

Other subjects will follow, starting with Times Tables. These are receiving much attention as the traditional method, rote learning, doesn’t pass muster for students with dyscalculia. Here are a couple of examples:

6 x 6 = 36 8 x 3 = 24 & 8 x 6 = 48

Sir Linkalot is not solely for spelling, however. There are animations for homophones, spelling rules, letter strings, punctuation, parts of speech, prefixes and the origin of words, as told by Lady Lexicographer (Countdown’s Susie Dent!). Etymology is very much in vogue! So, it also applies to Key Stage 3 as well as children in Key Stages 1 and 2.

Children and adults can submit their links hoping that their creations will end up on the app along with their name, just like these examples: said eat & away

Interestingly, two of the linkers for these animations are dyslexic as they have had to think laterally to commit something to memory. This has not been done to this extent before and is why it is receiving a lot of attention as it is filling a huge need, especially as children have fallen behind over the last couple of

With 90% of children, it’s down to confidence. Linking instils it... and how!

want proof!!??

Linkalot is a genuine game changer:

Your approach has been a revelation for my son as he learns in a visual way. It’s helping not just his learning but his confidence and his self-esteem. That is priceless.

Cathy Minshaw

I can now spell diarrhoea!

Support for Schools During Black History Month

This month is Black History Month and we are celebrating the achievements and contribution of black people with African and Caribbean backgrounds. The celebration started in America and was first launched in the UK in 1987 - the aim being for communities to challenge racism and learn about black history. Understandably there has been more enthusiasm and action in areas with higher numbers of black citizens. In some local authorities Black History Month was initially combined with a celebration of Asian festivals.

The Equality Diversity Inclusion Team (EDIT) feel strongly that valuing the achievements of all minority groups should be implicit in the school curriculum and crucially something that happens throughout the year. We suggest that schools start with their communities and get to know and value their heritage backgrounds and languages.

Tried and Tested Resources

A language of the month focus - information on Africa, African languages and famous Africans:

Click Here.

Traditionally history taught in UK schools has not included key black people who have helped to change history - we would like children to know about Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. When children study World War II let us not forget the involvement of Africans and Sikhs from India. Identity work on ‘who am I?’ and ‘where do we come from?’ naturally starts conversations about countries around the world. All children can share and compare their heritage backgrounds and parents can get involved too.

Schools work hard and want to get it right when dealing with racism and unconscious bias. EDIT often deliver this training for school staff and governors. A recent success was an equalities training session on the use of appropriate terminology.

Materials including lesson plans which aim to develop an understanding of how the culturally relevant curriculum is beneficial to all pupils – often shared at school staff meetings:

Click Here.

A great website with ready to print glossy visual game-like activities designed to fit into schemes of work and suitable for small groups and whole class:

Click Here.

The Danger of a Single Story –Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – A clip that gives a lot of food for thought and reflection often used in training:

Click Here.

Feedback from recent training from a school for pupils with behaviour and learning needs, Kent:

Lots of points raised to make me think, loved the resources and websites.

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Tracy Crute supports equality, diversity and inclusion in schools. Her passion is welcoming and supporting refugees and new arrivals. She is experienced in training about racist incidents.

Interactive games to explore appropriate language to use in class were good.

Racist scenarios and how to deal with them - will use positive ethnic role models used in classroom displays.

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Bhupinder Gill has over thirty years experience within minority ethnic achievement. She has worked extensively on black pupils’ achievement and providing equalities training.

What is generally accepted as acceptable/unacceptable?

I will be more watchful of equality in general.

“ ”

Isobel Whiley covers all aspects of EAL inclusion and promoting schools linking around identity. She specialises on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) and LGBTQi+ inclusion.

For more information and support contact

Let’s Meet the Equality Diversity Inclusion Team

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Networking Meeting for Schools Supporting Refugees

Monday 17 October 2022, 4-5pm

Do you have new arrivals? Want to know what support is available to support refugees? Attend our free online

Networking Meeting for Schools Supporting Refugees - suitable for all primary and secondary schools.

Our refugee expert Tracy Crute from the Equality Diversity Inclusion Team (EDIT) will be delivering a live session to discuss:

• an introduction to EDIT

• inducting and supporting your refugee pupils

• robust inductions

• coping strategies for the classroom and school environment

• refugees with limited or no English

• common themes and emerging issues

• Q&As – a chance to discuss some of your concerns.

You can book your free place here.

Keeping the Early Years and Childcare Sector on Track with Ofsted

The Early Years & Childcare Service works with all types of early years and childcare settings across the UK to ensure they are delivering the best possible opportunities for children.

As you may be aware, Ofsted inspections since 2018, across all types of early years and childcare provisions, have shown there has been a 6% drop from outstanding to good or lower judgements and it is our purpose to endeavour to enable 98% of all settings within Kent to be good or outstanding by the end of 2022-23.

Responding to the New Educational Inspection Framework

When the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) reforms were announced last year, we responded with a bespoke EYFS Reforms Conference and a series of four development area specific training courses, focussing on: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

In summary, the new Ofsted Framework (last updated on 11 July 2022) means inspections are now focussing on four key areas, these are: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

With inspections being less data-heavy and more judgement based, through the lens of the 3I’s - Intent (a setting’s aims to help children develop), Implementation (how you deliver these aims) and Impact (how you make a difference to the children’s development), we help settings understand how to embed the four key areas and embrace the 3I’s at their own settings, by offering Are You Ready for Your Inspection training (click here to book on the next course running on 22 November 2022) and Strategic Improvement Visits

The New Ofsted Strategy

We are closely aligned with Ofsted and are fully conversant with its latest July 2022 strategy to ensure we are supporting you with the most current information.

Monthly Ofsted Reporting Review

Every month we search for trends in Ofsted’s reporting data and share this through:

• regular updates at termly Briefing and Networking Sessions

• our weekly direct mails (including regular ‘Ofsted Special’s)

• ensure that we schedule training opportunities to respond the specific trends Ofsted have identified.

o We also schedule our training opportunities to respond to these trends to ensure your setting can be ahead of the curve.

Training

To read more about and book training for any of our CPD (individual place) training courses, please visit Kent CPD Online and search the Early Years training catalogue. To read more about group/whole setting training please click here.

For information on any of the above or how we can best work with you to enable your practise to be aligned with the new Ofsted framework and get you ready for your next inspection, please request a free ten minute chat with one of our experienced training advisers via

News In Brief

CPD Leaders Primary Training Update

Take a look at your latest primary CPD Leaders Training Update. These regular updates give you details about our conferences, TEP Talks, E-learning, webinars, training packages and our Event Catalogue which lists our many training courses. For information on our extensive offer please visit our website.

New - Wellbeing Training Package for Primary Schools

Launched in September 2022, our Wellbeing Training Package, brought to you by Mental Health & Wellbeing, provides you with all the training and resources you require to support your students, staff and parents’ wellbeing needs on an annual basis. Take a look at our new package here

TEP Thoughts

TEP Thoughts is a new series of thought-provoking blog posts sharing tips, knowledge and time saving ideas from our Primary School Improvement Team.

Here are some recent blog topics:

• Inclusion – Can Young People with SEND Thrive in a Mainstream Setting?

• Top Tips for Teaching Assistants

• The Total Approach to School Development Planning

Take a look here at all our TEP Thoughts blogs.

TEP Talks - Educational Insights from the Experts

Our TEP Talks, brought to you by Primary School Improvement, have been designed to give school leaders regular access and educational insights from a wide range of experts in order to stimulate thinking around a broad range of current themes.

Our next online talk on Tuesday 29 November at 3.45pm will be led by Lindsay Pickton. Entitled The Key Stage Two Reading Curriculum and the Reading Diet, it focuses on four main areas.

• What do we mean by ‘progression’ in reading comprehension?

• What are the key sticking points in reading comprehension?

• The relationship between word-reading, fluency and understanding.

• Making sure more reading happens. To access more information please visit our website

PrimaryScience Scheme of Work

Better Together.